Page 20 of Silent Comrade
A sales associate strolled past Britt,mentioning the store’s closing. Britt nodded absently and smiled,toying with her black pendant.
He groaned to himself as she keptshopping.
Over the next three minutes, the two mencasually strolled until they had triangulated their positions fortyfeet from her on either side. The store lights dimmed to aboutfifty percent illumination.
Shit.
She turned toward the outer exit, but one ofthe men blocked her path in the tiled walkway between carpetedclothing sections. Her eyes widened and she spun around.
The second tall, bald man approached fromthe depths of athletic wear, put a finger to his lips, and held uphis hand as if to tell her not to move.
Red scanned the store. Empty. Strangelyempty. Like,paid offempty. He’d deal with whys later. Theman that had motioned for her to stop now reached under hisblazer.
Red’s virus revved hard against hiscontrol.
Britt bolted.
She wove through racks, dodging in thegeneral direction of the store’s mall entrance, shoes thuddingagainst carpet, then linoleum. Red ran parallel to her, stayinghidden. An automatic metal grid clacked down over the exit with amechanized thud.
Britt cast a glance from side to side.
The men casually strolled closer.
Red tracked them. He had to balancesubterfuge with protection.
Her harsh, panicked breathing tasted bitter,like an overripe orange. Attuned to the sound now, he honed in onthe breaths and her pounding heartbeat. This store had gotten fartoo empty, too quickly.
In the low light, one of the men made a handsignal to the other. Then the lights went out completely. Onlyemergency illumination with a bluish glow made the inside of thesilent store visible. Red had the advantage in low visibility.
Britt froze in her tracks.
The men moved.
Chapter Ten
Tachi had warned Britt that her shoppinghabit was dangerous, but this terrifying situation probably wasn’twhat her friend meant.
The thunder of her heartbeat blocked outother sounds. Her crouch behind a clothing display burned in herthigh muscles, but no way would she stand and stretch.
She gasped, pressing her lips together tostifle the sound. Who were those men? Britt didn’t care to findout. She had caught a glimpse of black metal, right before thelights went out. She’d seen Brady’s gun enough to know the shapeand dull, dark glint of a pistol. Sweat prickled her upper lip.What would happen if those guys found her? Her brain gladlyprovided her previews of possible Lifetime channel movies andTrue Crimemurder shows, starring Britt. None had happyendings.
Britt peered out from behind a summer cottondress draped over a plastic mannequin set back into a niche walldisplay where she hid. She pressed her lips together as she glaredat the mall entrance’s metal grille, firmly locked in place for thenight. No exit there. She crammed herself as deeply into the smallspace as possible.Think. What about the door to the parkinglot? A back employee entrance. One of those might work, if shecould sneak around the men.
If the doors were locked? Usually they haddeadbolts that could be turned. Otherwise, she could grab aBrannock shoe-fitting device on her way through the shoe section.That might work to break the door glass on the street entrance, ifnecessary. Defend herself. That heel cup would leave a mark,too.
See? A fashion degree was useful after all.A panicked bubble of laughter threatened to break free. Sheswallowed hard and trembled.
In front of her, one of the men slithered inand out of the racks, pushing at clothes on hangers that madehigh-pitched squeaks. She could just make out his broad shouldersand bald head in the low illumination from the store’s emergencylights.
She crammed her fist against her mouth andhid behind plastic legs.
“Swear she was heading this direction.” Thebald man’s low, gravelly voice drifted over to her poor hide. Adirect glance in her direction and they’d see her.
Her legs shook. Calves quivered. She clungto the mannequin ankle until the figurine tipped forward.Swallowing a guttural gasp, she yanked the legs until the flatplastic footingsnickedback firmly onto the platform.
“What was that?” bald gravelly voice said.Clicks of flashlights preceded bright beams piercing the emptystore. “That her?”
She ducked and held her breath until the airburned in her lungs.
